Queen Victoria: the woman who gave the name of the era

Not every monarch manages to leave suchmemory like this woman. When historians speak of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland of the second half of the XIX century, they call the country Victorian England, and the period from 1837 to 1901, in which Queen Victoria rules, is called the Victorian era. But the beginning of the tale was not at all bright ...

Alexandrina Victoria was an only childin the family of Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent from the Hanoverian dynasty, and the princess of one of the German principalities Victoria Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Victoria's mother first married at the age of 17, but she was written to bear the widow's cross, as if it were the nature of her family. The first husband died 11 years after the wedding, leaving a woman with two children. The second marriage was concluded in 1818. The groom (Duke of Kent) was at that time over 50. Just 8 months after the birth of his only daughter, he died of pneumonia (the invention of antibiotics was still ahead), 6 days ahead of his father, King of Britain George III.

Future Queen Victoria was born May 24, 1819in a modest Kensington Palace on the outskirts of London. Although Victoria was only fifth in line to the throne, and the chances of taking him were slim, the Duke of Kent believed that other heirs would be able to challenge Victoria’s rights to the throne in the future if she was born not on British soil. Because he insisted on moving from Germany to England. For the newborn girl, the name Victoria was chosen. The Russian Emperor Alexander I became the godfather of the baby, so Alexandrina became the second name of the future queen. Her family called her Drina.

Victoria was born in the royal family, but her childhood was spent in rather cramped conditions (her father left them a legacy of inheritance).

После смерти отца и деда Виктория занимает уже third place in the queue for the throne after two of their childless uncles. George IV, who became regent with his sick father since 1811, becomes king. The new king weighed more than 120 kilograms, loved luxury and entertainment. Although he was a fan of the books of Jane Austen, patron of the artists of his time, but the daughter of the late brother annoyed the king. Reluctantly, he allowed Victoria and her mother to move to Kensington Palace and approved a small allowance for the girl. Mother's brother Leopold (the future king of Belgium) paid for her education.

Victoria did not attend school, she studied at homeconditions of history, geography, mathematics, the basics of religion, playing the piano and drawing. In the first three years of her life, she spoke only German, but then quickly mastered English and French. A conservative mother guarded her from the worst sides of royal life, instilled in her daughter noble values ​​and brilliant manners. After the death of the three uncles who separated the princess from the throne, at the age of 18, Queen Victoria took the throne.

She ruled the country for 63 years, 7 months and 2 days (with1837 to 1901), until today, remaining a monarch, the longest occupying the British throne. At the age of 21, the Queen of Britain married her cousin, Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Goth, a German prince. They were married on February 10, 1840, in the chapel of the royal palace at St. James.

During the reign of Victoria, Britain becamea mighty empire that subjugated a quarter of the world, its soldiers fought on many fronts. The population of the country doubled and became mainly urban. Slavery was abolished. Water, gas, electricity, police, asphalt roads and pedal bicycles, the first postage stamps and comics, as well as the first metro in the world (the famous London Pipe) appeared in the cities. Factories and railways were built, photography, rubber tires, first mailboxes and sewing machines were invented. Drina, following her husband Albert, patronized new technologies and was interested in them. When it appeared laws on the education of children and began the massive opening of schools.

Королева Виктория стала первым монархом, жившем в Buckingham Palace. She loved singing, drew a lot of her life, wrote books, went to the opera and was very happy in marriage. However, the death of her husband shook the queen. Albert was a real helper to her both in the government of the country and in family life. She mourned his death for almost 10 years and wore mourning to the end of her life and showed no emotions in public. Left a widow at 42, the Queen of Britain hardly found the strength to return to her duties and children.

Victoria and Albert had nine children, 40grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren. Eight royal children sat on the thrones of Europe. All survived to adulthood, which was a rarity in the XIX century. However, as it turned out later, Queen Victoria carried the hemophilia gene, spreading the disease through morganatic marriages to many European royal families, including the family of Russian Emperor Nicholas II, whose wife Alexander was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The only heir to the Russian throne, Tsarevich Alexei, suffered greatly from this disease.

Queen Victoria herself, whose biographyworried more than one generation of historians, successfully survived seven attempts and died at the age of 81 from a stroke. She is buried in the Frogmore mausoleum in Windsor. The current Queen of the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Albert, are great-great-great-grandsons of Victoria.